Not a Bicyclist's Guide to Bicycles
All bicyclists ride bikes. But not all bike riders are bicyclists. I'm a bicycle enthusiast: someone who spends enough time riding and repairing bikes to know a thing or two about them. But I'm not a bicyclist, because I don't race my bike, or care about power meters or pacing or compete in events.
I wrote this article to help non-bicyclists better understand bikes: which to buy, what features truly matter to the average rider, and what features only exist for the benefit of Olympians.
If you race bikes, you can safely ignore all of this advice. I'm speaking to people who just want to get around on their bikes, not people who want to min/max stats. Think of what I'm describing as the "Honda Civic of bikes". If you know what drafting is and you want to do it, ignore me.
TL;DR: Most big bike manufacturers, including Trek, Specialized, Giant, and a few others, are 90% racing nonsense. In the last 20 years, only a couple of features have changed in a meaningful way for your average rider.
